Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago at this time, I was getting ready to have my hair and make up done for the best day of my life. Many people say your wedding day will go by so fast and that you will hardly remember everything. The day DID go by in a flash, however I was able to step back and take in everything. I happen to be blessed (or cursed...depends on how you look at it) with an extraordinary memory. Because of this, I remember my special day quite vividly.

I remember:

• Not sleeping at all the night before because I was so excited and nervous
• Finally getting out of bed around 6:00 AM because I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. After being awake for about an hour, Diane woke up and we went to Panera together. She told everyone we ran into "My friend is getting married today!"
  
• Crying for no reason at all while getting my make up done.
• Looking into the mirror in the bridal suite at Berg and feeling beautiful
  
• Seeing James for the first time...in the alley outside the elevator doors
• Walking down the aisle and seeing the smiling faces of my wonderful friends and family
• The amazing spread of food...and realizing that the macaroni and cheese bar was worth every pretty penny we spent on it.
• The stress of trying to get around and say hi to everyone
• Cutting the cake...we had no idea what we were doing
  
• Our first dance ("When You Say Nothing At All" - Keith Whitley
  
• The crowded dance floor during "Jump On It"
• Showing up at our gorgeous hotel room at The Raphael...and then realizing I didn't have my overnight bag: no toothbrush, no face wash (washing layers of MAC make up off with hotel soap is pretty painful), no change of clothes, no sexy wedding night lingerie...somehow I didn't let it bother me and we ended up having a great night regardless.

It was an amazing day and every day since has been another memory to add to the books. Happy anniversary, Baby. I love you!

Top 10 Memories of 2009

In chronological order:

1. Engagement photos - We did our engagement photos in January, I think. It was on a day that was 9 degrees outside and of course we decided to do all of them outdoors. STUPID. We completely froze but somehow managed to get some good pictures. It was definitely a memorable day.

2. Dad's 60th birthday party - We celebrated Dad's 60th birthday in April out at Spring Lake. There are two parts of this day that were particularly memorable. First off, I caught my first fish ever. Well, kinda. Martin and Eric were fishing and Martin had one on the hook. He let me real it in. I was very excited. The other memorable part of this day, was when I dropped Dad's birthday cake. Luckily I have a dad that loves me even when I ruin his birthday.

3. Float trip - Over Memorial weekend, we went on a float trip somewhere in Missouri. We met Josh and Jaime and some of there friends there and spent a couple days on the river. It was a good time and is something I hope we'll do again.

4. 5K - This was a super busy day for me as it was the same day as my bridal shower and bachelorette party. I woke up at like 5:30 in the morning to go run the Hospital Hill 5K with Diane and Jenna. I didn't do fabulous, but I was proud of myself for doing it. I got 270th place overall (out of 1156 runners), 81st in the women's division (out of 722), and 14th in my age bracket (out of 142). I'm hoping to get back in shape and do another one this spring.

5. Bachelorette part(ies) - I had two bachelorette parties before getting married. They were completely different but both were really fun. The first one was about a month before the wedding. It was on the same day as my shower. We got a room at Harrah's and opened gifts (mostly stereotypical naughty bachelorettey things) and then went to the VooDoo lounge and gambled. Nicole, Margie, Lisa, Diane, Jenna, Jenni, and Paige were all there and it ended up being a great night with friends. An extra perk...I wasn't hungover the next day. My second bachelorette party was in Aggieville. It ended up just being Piper, Catie, and me (Adrienne came out with us for a bit before she had to work). It was in Aggieville, so it's a given that we had a good time.

6. The day of my wedding - I know everyone says it's supposed to be the best day of your life, but mine truly was. Things went smoothly, I felt beautiful, and I was surrounded by the people I love. Everyone seemed to have a good time, which should matter to me...but it does. It was perfect.

7. Our honeymoon - Our honeymoon was a great mix of romance, fun, and relaxation. I'm the type of person who typically tries to do as much as possible while on vacation. However, a lot of this trip was spent relaxing beside the beach or hanging out at the swim-up bar. We also took a tour of the island with Lloyd and Shal...some very fun locals who took us around in the back of their land rover jeep. This trip was our first time out of the country, so it was fun for us to get to use our passports.

8. Backyard football - This isn't very significant, but James and I bought a football in the early fall. We spent quite a few Saturdays out in the backyard throwing around the football. Nothing like good weather and fall leaves and a football!

9. Pumpkin patch - We went to the Johnson's Farm Pumpkin Patch this fall with Rory, Jenn, and Juliana. We usually take our first graders there every year for a field trip, but this year we didn't have the funds. This totally bummed me out, so I suggested we take Juliana. She was adorable there and we had a blast.

10. Our trip to Reno - We spent this Christmas in Reno with James' mom's side of the family. His grandparents were very generous and paid to fly us out and put us up in a hotel. We were there for 4 days. It was really nice to get to know his aunt and uncle and cousins. It's funny how similar James is to his family...even though he doesn't really know them. The last night we were there, James, Rory, me, and his cousins Ashley and Meghan went out. We had a really good time.